


Priorities

by HerBrazenElegance



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-25
Updated: 2013-03-25
Packaged: 2017-12-06 10:52:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/734845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerBrazenElegance/pseuds/HerBrazenElegance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Connor has cuter things to worry about than showing up on time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Priorities

**Author's Note:**

> A story inspired by [Maliks-butt](http://maliks-butt.tumblr.com/)'s lovely drawings and the art of several other people who jumped onto the bandwagon as well.

“Crap, crap, crap,” Connor muttered to himself. He raced out the door of his apartment still trying to put his shirt on properly and took the stairs two at a time as he rushed for the exit. Once outside he booked it down the street, leaving a trail of apologies as he pushed people out of the way as gently as possible and nearly getting run over at one point when he decided to risk ignoring the “Don’t walk” signal.

He was exhausted by the time his destination was in sight but pushed onward until he was through the building’s doors, which was no easy task given how crowded it was – like ridiculously crowded, even for a Monday. There was still enough room for an impressive line, but it was sloppy and nobody could honestly tell upon first walking in where it started or ended.

“Connor!” Aveline shouted over the many voices from behind the counter. “You’re fifteen minutes late!”

“I know, I know,” he yelled back. He weaved through the crowd, leapt over the counter, and pushed through the door to the back room, hoping for a moment to gather himself before the guilt settled in.

Nope.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Altaïr fumed. He stood by the sink and looked to be wiping off an entire cup of coffee that must have spilled on him.

“Busy,” Connor answered as he haphazardly threw an apron on.

“Busy? Fucking–“ Altaïr didn’t even know how to respond to that. “You wanna talk about busy? Did you see how many people were out there while you took your sweet time getting here? _Do you even know_ how many stupid caramel-mocha-vanilla-latte-whatevers I’ve already made today?”

Connor sighed while waiting for his timesheet to clock him in. He rarely ever was late, in fact most days he was _early_ , but Altaïr and Aveline especially made it a point to ride him for it when it happened like it was a daily thing.

“Look, you can grill me later, okay? Just…clean yourself up and help get this place emptied.”

Altaïr looked at him like he just insulted his mother.

“It wouldn’t even be like this if you’d shown up on time!”

Connor ignored him and left him alone to tackle the masses with Aveline. She, fortunately, was far too distracted by orders to give him any more attitude, so he quickly fell into work mode without any more hassle. He expected more customers to be upset with the wait and prepared himself for some negativity, but their reactions were almost the opposite. He recognized a number of regulars who seemed very pleased to see him today, and one older woman even remarked that she was glad it was him taking her order and not “that other angry-looking boy with the scar”. Connor bit his tongue on that one given that Altair had returned and was only a few steps away from their conversation, but he couldn’t stop the short laugh that escaped him.

One hour, then two hours of solid coffee-brewing work passed before the shop finally showed signs of slowing down from the morning rush. Connor found himself staring boredly into the distance in between cups until a familiar face came through the doors.

“Ratonhnhaké:ton!”

“Kanen'tó:kon!” Connor cried. His mood visibly shifted upon hearing the sound of his friend’s voice and a real smile had found its way onto his face.

“What did he just call you?” Aveline butted in.

“It’s a…nickname,” Connor replied without looking at her. “Family stuff. I’ll explain my whole life history to you later.”

Aveline rolled her eyes. “I’m going to take a smoke break,” she said, and did just that.

Kanen smiled once he was standing next to the counter.

“The usual?” Connor asked knowingly.

“Yes, thank you,” he responded first in English, then in their native tongue, “ _And how is Achilles?”_

Connor frowned and turned away to make his coffee.

“ _He isn’t looking much better. I had to leave him alone today, but he is so sick that I don’t think he will get into much mischief._ ”

“ _That is too bad. You’ve only had him for a short time._ ”

“ _I know_.” Connor was lost in his own thoughts for a moment. “ _I have been expecting troubles from the beginning, though. It isn’t supposed to be easy to take care of neglected animals_.”

“ _You have always had a soft spot for the helpless_ ,” Kanen pestered.

Connor buried a smirk as he wrote “Tubby” on Kanen’s finished coffee and turned to put it on the counter between them.

“ _Just don’t let any of my coworkers know or I’ll never hear the end of it. I am already in enough trouble with Aveline and Altaïr for being late._ ”

“I heard my name,” Altaïr called out.

Connor and Kanen shared a grin.

“ _So are you still coming by tonight?_ ” Connor asked.

“ _Yes. And I’ll see if I can find something to remedy Achilles’ tummy ache_.”

“ _Good. Thank you._ ”

“No, thank _you_ ,” Kanen replied in English, taking the coffee in hand and leaving money on the counter.

Connor watched him walk away and waited for the reaction he wanted. It took Kanen a moment, and fortunately he was still standing in front of the building’s windows, but he sipped the coffee, read the side of the cup, and pouted while muttering something to himself. Connor didn’t have to hear the words to know what he said, or to come away from the counter giggling.

**Author's Note:**

> Before anyone asks, Achilles is a kitty cat, and yes, I named him after old man Achilles because feels. And if someone draws some adorable abused-but-rescued fan art I might explode into candy and hearts.


End file.
